PNP to reexamine 2018 killing of Tanauan mayor

Retired Police Col. Royina Garma and murdered Tanauan Mayor Antonio Halili —Photos by Niño Jesus Orbeta (Philippine Daily Inquirer) and contributor

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police is reopening its investigation of the 2018 murder of then Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili, following the claim of retired police colonel and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma that a police official was behind the killing.

“The PNP will dig deeper into this case because the incident happened more than five, six years ago,” PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

READ: Garma links PNP official to Batangas mayor’s assassination

“The CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) is now in the process of retrieving, restudying, and assessing where the investigation led,” she added.

Halili, who had a reputation for parading drug suspects and other criminals around Tanauan City, was shot dead during a flag-raising ceremony at city hall.

Davao model

Garma, then Cebu City police chief at the time, told the quad committee she heard rumors that Halili was killed by a police sniper and identified a certain Major Albotra of Region 7 who claimed he was part of the team behind the operation.

Garma had also dropped several explosive allegations at the quad committee hearings, including former President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders to reward police officers and officials involved in drug war operations under the “Davao model.”

Fajardo also told reporters the CIDG would file criminal complaints against Garma and former National Police Commission Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo for the killing of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020.

The two were tagged by Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza, who told the quad committee that they had asked him to carry out the operation against Baruyaga.

Barayuga was on his way home when he and his driver were shot by a motorcycle rider in Mandaluyong City on July 30, 2020. He was killed while his driver was wounded. The case has remained unsolved.

“The case folder is ready for filing. We’re just waiting for the wife of Gen. Wesley Barayuga and other relatives so we can formally file the complaint,” Fajardo said.

“Wesley Barayuga’s driver is alive. He will be among the complainants in the case. So this is a frustrated murder [case] with respect to Barayuga’s driver since he is alive. In Wesley Barayuga’s case, we’re just waiting [for] Mrs. Wesley Barayuga to appear,” she said.

PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil earlier also ordered the reopening of the Barayuga case based on Mendoza’s testimony.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, meanwhile, said it would be a good idea for the chamber to conduct its own inquiry into Duterte’s brutal campaign against drugs as proposed by his former aide, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go.

Pimentel, who chairs the justice and human rights committee, said that holding a parallel investigation would allow senators to summon individuals who had participated in the previous administration’s drug war, particularly those who were mentioned in quad committee hearings.

Good idea

“That is optional, but [it] looks like a good idea to me,” he said in a Viber message.

“It will give us the opportunity to ask cross examination questions to test the credibility of the witnesses,” he added, referring to those who had already testified before the House panel.

Pimentel, who was at the helm of the Senate when Duterte launched his drug war in 2016, which killed thousands, said it was up to Senate President Francis Escudero and his colleagues as to which Senate body should lead the inquiry.

Besides his panel, there was also the Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee headed by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who headed the antinarcotics campaign as PNP chief.

On Monday, Go said he was willing to file a resolution pushing for a Senate inquiry after Garma told the House quad committee that Duterte had instituted a bounty system that provided cash rewards for police officers who killed drug suspects.

Garma said the strategy was fashioned after the “Davao model,” which the former president allegedly enforced as Davao City mayor.

According to her, the details of the antidrug operations were coursed through Go, then the special assistant to the president.